Sādhana-bhakti

rāgātmikāyāṁ rucir yathā

rāgātmikāyāṁ rucir yathā—suhṛt preṣṭhatamo nātha ātmā cāyaṁ śarīriṇām | taṁ vikrīyātmanaivāhaṁ rame’nena yathā ramā || atra svābhāvika-sauhṛdyādi-dharmais tasminn eva svābhāvika-patitvaṁ sthāpayitvā, parasyaupādhika-patitvam ity abhipretam | anyatra patyāv ‘ekatvaṁ sā gatā yasmāc caru-mantrāhuti-vrataiḥ’ iti chāndogya-pariśiṣṭānusāreṇa kṛtrimam ekātmatvam | tasmin paramātmani tu svabhāvata evety ātma-śabdasyāpy abhiprāyaḥ | evaṁ yadyapi tasmin patitvam anāhāryam evāsti, tathāpi ātmanaiva mūlya-bhūtenaiva taṁ viśeṣataḥ krītvā yathānyāpi kanyā vivāhātmakena svātma-samarpaṇena kañcit patitvenopādatte, tathā bhāvenāśritya anena parama-manohara-rūpeṇa tena saha rame ramā lakṣmīr yathā | tad evaṁ tasyā rāge piṅgalāyāḥ sva-rucir dyotitā ||
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)

“Taste for rāgātmikā [-bhakti] is as follows [as illustrated by a statement of Piṅgalā in SB 11.8.35], ‘He [i.e., Acyuta, Śrī Bhagavān,] is the friend (suhṛt), the most beloved (preṣṭhatama), the Lord (nātha), and the Self (ātmā) of all embodied beings. I shall purchase him by means of my very self and [thereby] enjoy with him like Ramā [i.e., Lakṣmī].’ In this regard, having established inherent (svābhāvika) husbandhood (patitvam) [i.e., capability to act as a husband in relation to a jīva] in him [i.e., Bhagavān] by means of his qualities of inherent friendship [i.e., his capability to act as a friend in relation to a jīva] and so forth, the conditional (aupādhika) husbandhood of others [i.e., of jīvas in saṁsāra who act as the husband of another embodied jīva] is intended [i.e., is meant to be conveyed by Piṅgalā’s statement in SB 11.8.35]. According to the Chāndogya-pariśiṣṭa, ‘She [i.e., a wife] has attained oneness (ekatvam) [with her husband] by virtue of caru [i.e., a type of oblation], mantras, rites, and vows,’ unitedness (ekātmatva) with other husbands is artificial (kṛtrima) [i.e., the unitedness of the jīva in the body of a woman with another jīva in the body of a man is a unitedness non-inherent in either of them that is created by rituals and resolutions], whereas in relation to Paramātmā, it [i.e., a jīva’s unitedness] is existent altogether inherently (svabhāvataḥ). This is the intention of the word ‘Self’ (Ātmā) as well [in SB 11.8.35, i.e., this is the intent of Piṅgalā’s statement that Acyuta is the Self of all embodied beings]. Thus, although husbandhood (patitva) is indeed non-adventitious in him [i.e., although Bhagavān’s capacity to act as a husband in relation to a jīva is not something some created but rather is an inherent capability in him], still [Piṅgalā states that] specially purchasing him by means of my very self, that is, [with myself] as the price, as other unmarried ladies also accept someone as [their] husband by means of the offering of oneself that constitutes [i.e., is known as] marriage, so I, taking shelter [in Bhagavān] by means of bhāva, shall enjoy with him, he of supremely attractive figure, like Ramā, that is, Lakṣmī. In this way, Piṅgalā’s own taste for her [i.e., Lakṣmī’s] rāga is thus illustrated.”

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eṣaivāvihiteti keṣāñcit saṁjñā, ruci-mātra-pravṛttyā vidhi-prayuktatvenāpravṛttatvāt

eṣaivāvihiteti keṣāñcit saṁjñā, ruci-mātra-pravṛttyā vidhi-prayuktatvenāpravṛttatvāt | na ca vaktavyaṁ vidhy-anadhīnasya na sambhavati bhaktir iti—prāyeṇa munayo rājan nivṛttā vidhi-ṣedhataḥ | nairguṇya-sthā ramante sma guṇānukathane hareḥ || ity atra śrūyate | tato vidhi-mārga-bhaktir vidhi-sāpekṣeti sā durbalā, iyaṁ tu svatantraiva pravartate iti prabalā ca jñeyā | … vidhi-nirapekṣatvād eva pūrvābhyāṁ dāsya-sakhyābhyām etadīyayos tayor bhedaś ca jñeyaḥ | … ata eva vidhy-ukta-kramo’pi nāsyām atyādṛtaḥ | kintu rāgātmikā-śruta-krama eva |
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)

“This itself [i.e., rāgānugā-bhakti as thus defined] is known by some as ‘non-enjoined [bhakti]’ because of [its] not being engaged in because of being motivated by injunction since it is engaged in only because of taste. It is also not to be said that bhakti is not possible for someone who is not subservient to injunctions [i.e., the injunctions of śāstra], since in this regard it is heard [in SB 2.1.7], ‘O King, for the most part, sages withdrawn from injunctions and prohibitions and situated in transcendence of the guṇas delight in recounting the qualities of Hari.’ Thus, it is to be understood that bhakti following the path of injunction [i.e., vaidhī-bhakti] is weak because it is dependent on injunctions, whereas this [i.e., rāgānugā-bhakti] proceeds entirely independently [of injunctions, that is, not requiring them] and thus is strong. … A distinction between the aforementioned servitude (dāsya) and friendship (sakhya) [i.e., the forms of sādhana-bhakti known as servitude (dāsya) and friendship (sakhya) of vaidhī-bhakti] and these [i.e., the servitude (dāsya) and friendship (sakhya) of rāgānugā-bhakti] is to be understood because of their [i.e., that latter’s] being independent of injunctions. … Thus, here [i.e., in rāgānugā-bhakti], the approach stated by injunctions [i.e., vaidhī-bhakti] too is not highly regarded, and rather, only the approach heard of in rāgātmikā [bhakti] is [i.e., a rāgānugā-sādhaka engages in sādhana in accord with the manners of expression (paripāṭis) of those rāgātmikā-bhaktas who foster the particular rāga one has taste for, and doesn’t engage in sādhana motivated by the injunctions of śāstra].”

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yasya pūrvokte rāga-viśeṣe rucir eva jātāsti

yasya pūrvokte rāga-viśeṣe rucir eva jātāsti, na tu rāga-viśeṣa eva svayaṁ, tasya tādṛśa-rāga-sudhākara-karābhāsa-samullasita-hṛdaya-sphaṭika-maṇeḥ śāstrādi-śrutāsu tādṛśyā rāgātmikāyā bhakteḥ paripāṭīṣv api rucir jāyate | tatas tadīyaṁ rāgaṁ rucyānugacchantī sā rāgānugā tasyaiva pravartate |
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)

“One in whom only taste [alt., liking] (ruci) for a specific rāga among the aforementioned [rāgas for Bhagavān, viz., that of a servant, friend, elder, or beloved] has appeared, and not rather a specific rāga itself [i.e., in regard to someone in whom a specific rāga for Bhagavān has not appeared but taste for a specific rāga has]—in that one [i.e., in that type of person], the crystalline jewel of whose heart is brightly shining with the reflection of the rays from the moon of that particular rāga [for which the person has taste], taste appears also for the manners (paripāṭis) of such rāgātmikā-bhakti [i.e., the mental, verbal, and bodily expressions of such rāga] that have been heard about in the śāstra and elsewhere [i.e., from one’s guru or other sādhus]. Then, that rāgānugā [-bhakti] of that one in particular [i.e., of that person in whose heart taste for a specific rāga and its manners of expression (paripāṭis) has appeared], proceeds following a rāga related to him [i.e., Bhagavān, meaning, a specific rāga for Bhagavān of a particular rāgātmikā-bhakta] by means of taste [i.e., by means of the aforementioned taste for a specific rāga and its manners of expression (paripāṭis) that has appeared in this person].”

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tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣaṇena svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye

tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣaṇena svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye sati tat-tad-rāga-prayuktā śravaṇa-kīrtana-smaraṇa-pāda-sevana-vandanātma-nivedana-prāyā bhaktis teṣāṁ rāgātmikā bhaktir ity ucyate | tasyāś ca sādhyāyāṁ rāga-lakṣaṇāyāṁ bhakti-gaṅgāyāṁ taraṅga-rūpatvāt sādhyatvam eveti, na tu sādhana-prakaraṇe’smin praveśaḥ | ato rāgānugā kathyate |
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)

“Since [this] natural (svābhāvika) rāga has distinctiveness [i.e., is of various types] on account of [each of its manifestations having] a distinctive bhāva the characteristic of which is a particular sense of identity (abhimāna) [in relation to Bhagavān, viz., that of being a servant, friend, elder, or beloved of Bhagavān], the bhakti on their part [i.e., on the part of Bhagavān’s personal associates who have one of these senses of identity] beget by a particular rāga [i.e., by a rāga characterized by one of the aforementioned specific senses of identity in relation to Bhagavān] and largely [consisting of] hearing, praising, remembering, serving the feet, and offering obeisances [to Bhagavān] is known as rāgātmikā-bhakti [i.e., bhakti constituted of rāga]. On account of its [i.e., rāgātmikā-bhakti’s] being, in form, [like] waves in the Gaṅgā of bhakti that is possessed of the characteristic of rāga, the goal (sādhya) [i.e., since rāgātmikā-bhakti is constituted of rāga for Bhagavān and expressions of rāga for him, just as waves of the Gaṅgā are made of the Gaṅgā’s water and are expressions of the Gaṅgā, and since rāga for Bhagavān is itself the goal (sādhya), that is, the object to be attained by engaging in sādhana-bhakti], it is itself the goal (sādhya) [i.e., rāgātmikā-bhakti is itself the goal (sādhya), that is, sādhya-bhakti], and thus [it] has no entry into this section on sādhana [i.e., since rāgātmikā-bhakti is itself the goal (sādhya), it will not be discussed further here in Bhakti Sandarbha, where only the abhidheya, that is, the means to attain, viz., the process of sādhana-bhakti, is discussed; rāgātmikā-bhakti will instead be discussed further ahead in Prīti Sandarbha, where sādhya-bhakti is explained in detail]. Therefore, rāgānugā [-bhakti] is [now] discussed.”

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viṣayiṇaḥ svābhāviko viṣaya-saṁsargecchātiśaya-mayaḥ premā rāgaḥ

viṣayiṇaḥ svābhāviko viṣaya-saṁsargecchātiśaya-mayaḥ premā rāgaḥ, yathā cakṣur-ādīnāṁ saundaryādau | tādṛśa evātra bhaktasya śrī-bhagavaty api rāga ity ucyate |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)

“A sensuous person’s natural affinity (svābhāvika-prema) constituted of intense desire for contact with sense objects is [called] rāga [i.e., “attachment”], as in the case of [the natural affinity of] the eye and so forth for beauty and so forth [i.e., of each of the senses for ideal forms of their respective objects]. Something indeed similar [i.e., a similar sort of natural affinity constituted of intense desire] of a bhakta also for Śrī Bhagavān is here [i.e., in the context of rāgātmikā-bhakti] called rāga.”

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Daśa-ślokī

The ten essential verses of Śrī Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta

By Śrīmad Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmīpāda

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tasmād anyad bhagavad-bhajanam api nāpekṣate

tasmād anyad bhagavad-bhajanam api nāpekṣate |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 237)

“Therefore [i.e., because Hari can become pleased to reveal himself simply in response to guru-bhakti], even other service to Bhagavān is not required [for a sādhaka fully engaged in personal service to his guru].”

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vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana

vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana |
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo’vyavasāyinām ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.41)

“O son of the Kurus, the resolute intellect (buddhi) is one [i.e., one-pointed] in this regard [i.e., in regard to practicing bhakti-yoga]. The intellects of the irresolute, however, are many-branched and endless [i.e., divided between numerous different pursuits and driven by an endless number of worldly desires].”

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ko’ti-prayāso’sura-bālakā harer

ko’ti-prayāso’sura-bālakā harer
upāsane sve hṛdi chidravat sataḥ |
svasyātmanaḥ sakhyur aśeṣa-dehināṁ
sāmānyataḥ kiṁ viṣayopapādanaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.38)

[Translated according to Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary:] “O boys of the asuras, what great exertion [i.e., difficulty] is there in worship of Hari, he who is present like space in one’s heart and is the inherent self and common friend of all embodied beings? [Therefore,] What [is the use] of accumulating objects of the senses?”

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